Campaign global: Bush

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, OCT. 2. The U.S. President, Mr. George Bush, has personally assured India that the U.S. campaign against terrorism is global and not uni-dimensional as seen through the prism of Osama bin Laden and the Al-Qaeda terror network.

Mr. Bush conveyed this to the visiting External Affairs and Defence Minister, Mr. Jaswant Singh, on Monday. Mr. Bush not only dropped in at a White House meeting between Mr. Singh and the U.S. National Security Advisor, Dr. Condoleezza Rice, but spent 45 minutes of a 75-minute discussion with him.

Mr. Bush had good reasons for spending his time at the meeting in spite of his hectic schedule.

New Delhi has been quite wary of the growing Washington-Islamabad nexus, especially as it pertains to fighting terrorism. Second, Mr. Singh has delivered a letter from the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, to Mr. Bush that is sharp in tone and content, accusing Pakistan of having a direct role in the wanton acts of violence and killings in Jammu and Kashmir and warning Islamabad - through Washington - that there is a limit to India's patience.

Mr. Singh's meeting with Mr. Bush has to be seen against the backdrop of yesterday's killings in Srinagar and in the boast of the Pakistan-backed Jaish-e-Mohammad claiming responsibility for the attack and even naming a Pakistani national based in Pakistan as one of the suicide bombers. Diplomatic sources said Mr. Bush was fully aware of the incident.

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